Jennifer Chesnes
Jennifer’s dance training started when she was 3 years old in all forms of dance until she graduated from high school. Rita & Lisa Wilhelm were her teachers and mentors in the dance performance & business world. Jennifer also danced with the Cleveland Ballet starting at age 13 through her teen years along with taking Modern dance classes at Case Western Reserve & Cleveland State as a High School student to earn the experience for college.
She started teaching all types of dance forms after receiving her Bachelors of Science in Dance Performance from Kent State University and had the opportunity to perform with many local Modern Dance Companies.
Jennifer is a certified Cecchetti Ballet Instructor along with being a certified Pilates Instructor. Jennifer continued the love for dance by taking it a step further and taking over Rita Wilhelm Academy of dance in 2001 and the year following opening her 2nd location in Shaker Heights. She enjoys giving her students the gift of dance because it has brought so much joy in her life over the years. Jennifer lives in Shaker Heights with her two beautiful children Calli & Cameron.
John Thompson
John is originally from the Cleveland area. He began his dance training from the famous Dee Hillier. He has been working in the entertainment world for 20 years working as a professional dancer, actor, choreographer and director.
John has worked with several Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Winners such as Tommy Tune, Tabitha & Napoleon, Patti Columbo and Barry Manilow.
He has traveled the world teaching Master classes in Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary and audition classes. For the past 15 years John has worked for Stiletto Entertainment based out of Los Angeles in the Cruise Ship division as well as with many artists that Stiletto managed, working on stage shows as well as PBS Specials. John also choreographs for RWS & Associates out of New York.
He has been a part of the Winter Guard and Drum Corp scene working with several different high schools and independent groups as a movement instructor and designer.
Riley Murray
Riley Murray is our Office assistant and Competition Coordinator. She was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. She began dancing at the age of 4 and trained at Studio J in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, and contemporary. In 2016 she graduated from the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography. She is currently teaching toddlers and creative movement for ages 2-5 in Beachwood, Ohio, as well as performing in new works created by Ajayi Dance in Cleveland. We are excited to have another alumni join the Studio J Family.
Marybeth Russo
Marybeth began her dance studies at the Rita Wilhelm Academy of Dance at age three. She is known for being an extremely passionate , creative, and confident teacher. Marybeth is a certified Cecchetti instructor and brings Hip-Hop to the Academy. She also has continued her dance studies at the Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Marybeth is a graduate from Ursuline College holding a B.A. in Education and has her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction . She presently teaches kindergarten at Lander Elementary in the Mayfield City School District along with being a content developer for two digital education platforms based in California. Marybeth ends her days with her beautiful kids, Mossimo & Delphina and her amazing husband who is our MC for all our shows, Rocco!
MacKenzie Bennett
MacKenzie is from Lordstown, Ohio and has been a part of the Studio J family since 2001. Her dance training began at age 4 at Momentum Dance and she continued there until her graduation from high school. MacKenzie trained under Lisa Mark learning technique and teaching methods.
She began teaching all types of dance after graduation including (but not limited to) Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary, and Hip-Hop. MacKenzie attended Kent State University in Ohio earning a degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology while dancing on the Kent State Dance team focused on Jazz, Hi-Hop, and POM.
Currently, she attends Akron University where she is pursuing a Masters Degree in Speech Pathology.
MacKenzie has taught at several studios throughout northeast Ohio and thinks of dance as her 'happy place' and loves to share her love of the art.
Lexi Bajusz
Lexi Bajusz is a Cleveland native and has been training in multiple styles of dance since she was 3 years old. At age 9, she began working extensively on her tap technique. She has trained and performed under many tap and percussion artists such as Bril Barret of M.A.D.D. Rhythms, Justin Myles and Elec Simon of STOMP, Maud Arnold, Anthony LoCascio, Cartier Williams, Savion Glover, and more. She continued dancing competitively until graduating high school, where she received her BS in Economics from Loyola University New Orleans. While in university, she trained with current and former New Orleans Saints and Pelicans dancers at Preaux Style Dance and MOVE Studio. Lexi is currently back in Cleveland choreographing and teaching, as well as running her Strength & Conditioning business, which works specifically with dancers.
Erica Rogers
Angela DeFranco
Angelina DiFranco is a dance artist, writer, and choreographer. As a choreographer, her work in film has won Best Overall at the Kent State Film Festival and Best Experimental Film at the Highland Square Film Festival. Angelina’s choreography has been performed at Cleveland Dance Fest, the Museum of Contemporary Art, OhioDance Festival, CDF Akron Series, and will be presented at RADFest in 2026. Alongside her work as a performing artist, Angelina is entering her second season teaching at Studio J and Cleveland Dance Project. As a writer, she has taken part in See Chicago Dance’s critical writing fellowship and has been published in See Chicago Dance, Luna Negra, Brainchild, Arts Air, and The Movement Project’s Blog.
Tori Byrd
Tori Byrd is a Cleveland native and grew up dancing competitively. Tori began her training at the age of three and has trained in various styles including ballet, jazz, contemporary, musical theatre, tap, and pointe. After graduating from Brunswick High School, Tori attended the University of Akron where she minored in dance and participated in their dance club as both a dancer and choreographer.
Tori teaches and choreographs at local studios and has experience teaching at both the recreational and competitive level. Tori has worked with Ohio Dance Masters, working as a scholarship judge and teaching convention classes. Tori has worked with a variety of ages ranging from three through adult. She continues to train and perform with various companies including Cleveland Dance Project and Reverie Movement Collective and often travels for training in New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles.
Eva Berardi
Ava Bernardi is an Apprentice with Cleveland Ballet for the 2026–2027 season.
A native of Chicago, Illinois, Ava began her ballet training at The Chicago School of Ballet under the direction of Steven Norman and Tatyana Mazur. During her training, she performed leading roles including Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, Dew Drop, Snow White, Juliet, Aurora, and Gamzatti.
She later continued her artistic development through summer intensive and pre-professional programs with The Joffrey Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and Orlando Ballet, and has studied with renowned teachers including Susan Jaffe, Marjorie Grundvig, Mme. Peff Modelski, Kaleigh Schock-Tyton, and Kseniya Stetsenko.
A multiple-time award recipient at Youth America Grand Prix, Ava advanced to the New York Finals and received a scholarship to The Rock School for Dance Education. She continued her pre-professional training at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre before joining Orlando Ballet as a Company Trainee.
Ava joined Cleveland Ballet as a Trainee in 2025, performing in The Nutcracker, Handel's Messiah, Cinderella, and the First Shade Variation from La Bayadère in the Student Showcase. She was
promoted to Apprentice for the 2026–2027 season.
Alongside her professional training, Ava earned a Bachelor of Science in Strategic Communication from Liberty University, graduating cum laude in 2025.
Kylie Karam
Kylie Karam (she/her/hers) is a dance artist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Kent State University with a B.F.A. in Dance and a minor in Arts Entrepreneurship as a member of the Honors College. During this time, she was awarded the Xavier Atienza Scholarship, the Cowperthwaite Scholarship, and the G. Harry Wright Award in Dance by her faculty. Karam supplemented her training with intensives at companies such as SALT Contemporary Dance, New Dialect, BODYTRAFFIC, and Alonzo King LINES Ballet. Additionally, she has performed works by Norbert De La Cruz III, Micaela Taylor, Rena Butler, Amy Hall Garner, Hope Boykin, and Brandon Lee Alley.
Following her graduation, Karam joined The Movement Project as a Seasonal Company Member. Since then, she has been working as a Cleveland-based artist and has presented her own choreography at the 2024 Cleveland Dance Fest and the 2025 OhioDance Festival. Karam joined the Dancing Wheels Company in the 2024-2025 season.
Trevor Sones
Originally from Clearfield, Pa – Trevor received a BA degree in Dance from Mercyhurst University. National Tour Credits: CATS, Beauty and the Beast. TV/Film Credits: ZIPS Dry Cleaners, The Knot, CATS National Tour commercial, “Step Up 3D”, Good Morning America, “Do You Dance, Ms. Parker?”. Trevor has worked extensively with Royal Caribbean as a Dancer/Dance Captain (Hairspray, MAMMA MIA), Associate Choreographer (GREASE, Name That Tune), and Director (Bada Bing Bada Boom). He then worked with RWS Entertainment Group in NYC as a Dancer/Dance Captain, Casting Assistant, Associate Choreographer, and Director/Choreographer. Most recently he toured Germany, Switzerland, and Dubai with SweetBird Productions "Rock The Ballet X" and "Romeo and Juliet" as a Dancer/Dance Captain. Currently, Trevor is a Regional Director/Guest Teacher for Encore DCS and on Faculty/Regional Director for REVEL Dance Convention! Follow his journey at @trevorsones
Cody Krause
Cody Krause is a graduate of The Ohio State University, receiving a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance in 2019, where he focused his degree on Composition, Choreography, & Performance. Before OSU, Cody started dancing in the Philadelphia area, attending Miss Cindy’s School of Dance since the age of 3. He also attended the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for Arts, where he graduated from in 2015 as a dance major.During his time as a performer, he’s been a part of many works, processes, and concerts including pieces by Doug Varone, Donald McKayle, Merce Cunningham, and Ohad Naharin, where he was the featured soloist in BalletMet and OSU’s Collaboration of “Minus 16.” Cody is currently in his second season of performing with Dancing Wheels in Cleveland, OH, where he is a company member, teaching artist, and outreach teacher. He has had the chance to perform all around the Cleveland Area, as well as places like Chicago and Beijing, China throughout his first year with the company. Cody has also been working on presenting his own choreography throughout 2015-2020, showcasing works in Columbus, Cleveland, and the Lehigh Valley. He has created and performed solo works such as “Desolate” and “Character Zero”, as well as choreographed group works “You Are Welcome to Join” and “The Haze of Connection”, his first integrated dance piece. He is also a Certified Level 1 Teacher in the Dancing Wheels Methodology.
Emma Zordan
Emma currently resides in New York City area but grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Her dance training began at age 4 at Studio J where she continued her studies until graduation under the direction of Jennifer Chesnes and a wide variety of staff members in a plethora of dance styles including ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, and hiphop.
She graduated from the University of Michigan in 2020 where she had the opportunity to continue her dance training as the director of several teams and as a ballet assistant in the dance department. Now living NYC, Emma continues her dance training at Broadway Dance Center, Peridance Center, House of Movement and Brickhouse, with Bo Park, Gwen Potter, Kenichi Kasamatsu, and Erika Ratkovicz. She worked for American Ballet Theater in Marketing and continues her ballet training with the company.
Emma has been a choreographer and teacher at Studio J for the past 7 years and is thrilled to continue her time at the studio as a guest instructor.
Hannah Hejduk
Hannah began her dance training at the age of three at Maranatha School of Dance in Cape Coral, FL. She then trained under certified Cecchetti instructor Erin Rivera from the ages of twelve to eighteen. Upon graduating high school, Hannah was accepted into Light of the World Ballet’s trainee program in Syracuse, NY, where she trained for three years. While there, Hannah had the opportunity to choreograph for the professional company and tour the choreography in Israel. In 2017, Hannah moved to Ohio and assisted her colleagues in beginning a professional ballet company and studio in Chardon.
She became the Artistic Director of Ballet Gloria, where she danced professionally in ballet and contemporary work, taught for the company and school, and was responsible for all choreography for the professional company. Hannah’s first full-length choreographic work premiered in 2019. Hannah is an ABT®️ Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT®️ Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT®️ National Training Curriculum.
